Voters in Regional School Unit 21 approved a $56.5 million bond for a school renovation project on Tuesday.
The project, which affects students in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel, will address safety and handicap-accessibility issues at Kennebunk High School, Kennebunkport Consolidated School and Mildred L. Day School in Arundel. The plan was scaled back by about $40 million after voters overwhelmingly rejected a renovation bond in January 2014.
Also on Tuesday, residents in the RSU 21 towns voted to approve the proposed $40 million annual education budget.
In Kennebunkport, residents also voted against filing a petition to withdraw from RSU 21 because of concerns about cost-sharing and against authorizing the withdrawal committee to spend $40,000 on the process. In unofficial results, residents opposed the measure 928-524.
Arundel residents voted to approve the RSU 21 budget 961-499 and voted 874-589 in favor of the school construction project. Kennebunk residents approved the school budget 2,775 to 1,252 and the school construction bond 2,570 to 1,462. Kennebunkport residents voted to approve the budget 961-499 and the construction bond 874-589.
The bulk of the $56.5 million will go to renovations at Kennebunk High School, which school officials say is in danger of losing its accreditation if its facilities are not improved. At Mildred L. Day, two wings that are sinking are to be razed and replaced with a new addition on land that is more stable. In Kennebunkport, the project will allow the district to eliminate three portable classrooms and renovate the school’s multipurpose space.
Of the $56.5 million price tag for the project, $42.8 million will go to Kennebunk High School, $8.55 million to the Mildred L. Day School in Arundel and $5.14 million to fund renovations at Kennebunkport Consolidated School.
The annual property tax impact on a home valued at $300,000 will be $229.68 in Kennebunk, $219.69 in Arundel and $209.28 in Kennebunkport.
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